Quick Mod for the ML7 QCTP Holders

[John Baguley]

Today I finished a quick mod to the toolholders for my QCTP on the ML7. The original QCTP came from Chronos I think many years ago and is a generic Chinese copy of the Dickson. I've since bought or acquired many holders for it.

The one thing I've never liked is the chunky Allen headed screws that are used to clamp the tools in place. They are just ordinary screws with plain ends and, being relatively soft, the ends get burred over from being tightened onto the hard tool shanks which makes them difficult to remove if necessary. Also, the large heads make cleaning the holders fiddly. Last week I decided to change them all and replace them with dog point grub screws. These are 5mm and relatively cheap to buy.

That's much neater and no chance of the ends getting burred over.

I thought about changing the locking bolts in the height adjusters as well but the screws that I bought would be mostly too short. I'll probably get a variety of lengths and replace those as well eventually.

John

[JonL]

They do look much less obtrusive. Don't tell anyone but I usually have to give a squirt from the airline to get the hexes clean enough to get an allen key into.

[dscott]

This was where Exhibitions came into there own with a pressing into card of your size of toolholder taken round with you.
Then load up your bag with the correct sizes.

David and Lily.

[jem]

I think hex bolt heads work better, though you have to turn off the first couple of threads from the bolts. A friend of mine always puts a piece of soft steel shim on top of his tool for the bolts to go onto.

best wishes

Jem

[jon38r80]

I dont like hex heads and prefer socket cap bolts but agree you Jem with turning off the first few threads so if the bolt end mushrooms a bit it doesnt matter.
Its those tall adjusters that get in the way that I dont like.

[cplmickey]

I like the ones I bought from RDG (I think) which don't have a tall adjuster. The tool holding bolts use the same square spanner as the tool holder locking bolt. Unfortunately all of the holders I see for sale are like John's in the picture above. Easily modified I suppose. Ian

[JonL]

If this post proves anything it's that everyone has a different preference do no maker was going to Win!

[jon38r80]

I also think it boils down a lot to which tools you need to move and adjust things on the rest of your machine. With the exception of the chuck everything on my EMCO is done up/undone with allen keys. Very early on in my ownership of the lathe I made a set of T bar ball end allen keys using Bondhus straight ball end keys. The T bars are relatively heavy bits os SS bar so that you can spin the the key more easily than the sort you can buy.

IMG_3874 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/145959641@N04

[ettingtonliam]

My tidying up exercise has unearthed a bag of 3/8" Whitworth square head dog point toolpost screws, the proper purpose made things. There is quite a few of them so if any of you need any, please form an orderly queue.

[John Baguley]

They're a bit too big for my holders Richard

I recall looking for some 5mm ones a few years ago with the intention of using those but I could only find them from China at the time and they were not cheap even from there. I have to agree that the height adjusters are far too big. I might tackle those one day.

The socket heads are not much of a problem really as I've got 20 odd holders so rarely have to change a tool once they are fitted. A bigger pain is the torx screws used for holding the carbide inserts when they get full of crud.

John

[SteveW]

Guys,
Perhaps a little off topic but close...

I once struggled getting the often hidden Myford top slide squared headed clamping bolt-thingies un-done and re-tightened. Invariably the top slide was always in the way.

My simple solution was to beat a bit of thick walled alloy tube rescued from our first born's baby buggy into a tube spanner for the square head. Sure, alloy would be the last choice for a tube spanner but it held good for the last 25+ years.

Forgot to add... Yep. Neat solution to getting a full rotation of the clamp. Always have spin the whole lot before getting that last 45 degrees to tighten.

[silverfox]

re the QCTP
I bought the originalset with some spares from Myford...when it was still My ford

I needed some more holders and found another supplier that did replicas.
Trouble is when i put the new holder onto the existing toolpost it doesnt tighten up. They sent me a spigot? and this with their holder fits nice and tight.
The funny thing is the old tholder doesnt fot the new 'spigot' tey all the dimensions of the old and new are the same.
Now i have the turning tools on one set and the boring tools on the other. Problem is i want to get a couple of 'non Greenwood' parting tools and haven't got a spares of either!

[psp]

I bought 2 from a firm in Dunstable! Badly made & will not fit. Once bitten!

[millman]

PSP the last ones I bought came from a firm in Dunstable and they were badly made and didn’t fit. The problem with mine was that the central clamp section hit the body before the vees engaged, fortunately they were soft enough to be milled, with a carbide cutter, I took about twenty thou off the offending area and they now work ok.Seems to me that they are deliberately made this way to fit their own tool block, you are ok if you buy a complete set from them.

[92220]

I've had this type of QCTP and tooplholder, almost since they were introduced, by Richard Dickson, in the early 1990s. He was one of my customers when I had the paint business. I've bought QC toolholders from RDG tools, who have been selling them since around 1997/8. I have also bought toolholders from other suppliers, because they were cheaper, and the RDG ones fit my original Dickson toolpost, perfectly...in fact as well as my original Dickson toolholders. I think, although they are probably made in China, the RDG quality control is far better than many other suppliers. Also; as far as the tool locking screws go, I still have the original cap screws and none of them are damaged on the ends of the threads. They still unscrew out of the holder. If the ends of the capscrews deform with use, the screws must be soft steel. Normal capscrews, bought from an industrial supplier, should be harder than normal screws or bolts, and should not deform with normal tightening...even when tightened onto HSS tools.

Bob.